Monday, 31 October 2016

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

As you can probably guess from my review of LabyrinthI'm a life-long fan. I love it with all my heart, I grew up with it, and Sarah was an inspiration to me growing up.

So I was not only looking forward to this book but I also had VERY high expectations for it.

And I'm happy to say that Wintersong managed to rise to the occasion!

This is a book that any fan of Labyrinth will love - and anyone who doesn't even know about Labyrinth will love it just as well.

Liesl spent her childhood living a life where the magical and the real were entwined - where she went home for her chores, but also played with the Goblin King in the Goblin Grove.

But people grow up and, as Sarah in the movie, you can't live a live of make-belief and dreams alone.

So Liesl left the Goblin King behind in her childhood memories.

The Goblin King, however, never forgot her. And he still wants her for himself.

While there are enough elements of Labyrinth to bring a smile to any fan's face, this book has its own distinct story. It's original, and fresh, and well worth the read.

Jae-Jones could have taken the easy way out and followed the plot of Labyrinth too closely, but she imagined a whole new story with common elements that is bound to enchant every reader.

Though this is the kind of story that lends itself to flowery descriptions and elaborate language, the language employed is simple - but surprisingly haunting and beautiful!

It's just as fairy tales of old that didn't tarry in making themselves pretty, so they slammed straight into our hearts, awakened our fears, and were remembered as beautiful nonetheless.

And this book is beautiful enough that it should have been illustrated by Brian Froud, it certainly deserves it!

This is not YA, though. This is a book for adults, so bear that in mind.

But it's easily become a favourite book of mine, I was half way through and I stopped just so I could pre-order it!

However I do prefer the Labyrinth's Goblin King, I like my fey creatures unapologetically cruel and malicious, but the Goblin King's background in Wintersong was believable and it fit the story and time period, even if it was a bit heavy handed and, to me, detracted from the wild and savage origins of Der Erlkönig.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book, and although this has not yet been published I can hardly wait for S. Jae-Jones' next book!

Jae-Jones is an extremely talented new author, with a perfect notion of pacing, plot, dialogue, and description.